Ice-creeper



I. H. BECKER.

ICE CREEPER.

APPLICATION FILE-D JULY 1-9. 1920.

1,374,41 8. Patented Apr. 12, 1921.

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JOHN HAERMS BECKER, OF BLQOIEINTGTON, ILLINOIS.

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Application filed m 19, 1920. Serial No. 397,175.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, JOHN H. BEoKnR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bloomington, in the county of McLean and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ice-Creepers; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the artto which it appertains to make and use the same. 1 V

This invention relates to an improved ice creeper for use in connection with ordinary shoes and one object of the invention is to provide a creeper which can be easily and quickly connected with the sole portion of the shoe and which will include plate and clamps for engaging the sides of the shoe sole with the plate positioned beneath the shoe. o

Another object of the invention is to so construct this creeper that it may be provided with teeth which are removably mounted and may, therefore, be easily removed and new ones put in place when so desired.

Another object of the invention is to provide. an improved securing means which includes a lever pivotally mounted upon one side of the spur carrying plates and having a jaw pivotally connected therewith and upon the opposite side'of the spur carrying plate, a jaw having a shank adjust-ably held in engagement with the spur carrying plate.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the device that the lever may be swung to an operative position and releasably held in this position and thus prevented from being accidentally moved to a releasing position while the creeper is in use.

Another object of the invention is to so construct this creeper that the parts form ingcthe same may be principally formed of stamped sheet metal and thus; a creeper cheaply. produced, which will at the same time be very strong and durable.-

This invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein t Figure 1 is a plan view showing the creeper applied to the sole of a shoe,

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the clamping means in the inoperative position, r

Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation showing the creeper applied to a shoe,

Specification of Letters l altent. Paten-ted -Ap 12, 1921.

Fig. 4c is a transverse sectional view through the creeper, the view along the line H of Fig. 1,

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary planview showing one side portion of the plate with the spurs removed and the bracket tongue extended,

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional viewtaken along the line 6 6 of Fig. 5,

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of an aux-i iliary jaw, and

F 1g. 8 1s a sectional viewshowing the aux- .iliary jaw in position for use.

forming being taken" This improved ice creeper is provided with' a plate ,or body portion 1 which is curved as shown in Fig. 8, for conforming to the usual curvature of a shoe when placed :against the underface or" the shoe sole 2. It

will thus be seen that when the plate is in position as shown, the'plate will have the proper curvature for permitting easy walk ing. This plate which will be formed of heavy sheet metal is provided with threaded openings 3 to receive the threaded shanks l of the spurs 5, the spurs being flat-sided as shown clearly in Figs. 1 and 2 and thus permitting the spurs to be easily screwed into the openings 3. These spurs will be of a desired length according to the type of work performed by persons wearing the creepers and may be relatively short for ordinary walking-or by persons who would ordinarily wear shoes having hob'nails or maybe relatively long for use by persons cutting natural ice from ponds and for other similar work. It is customary for persons who cut natural ice, to wrap the feet with heavy burlap in order to prevent freez-. Y

ing of the feet, and therefore, these spurs should be made long so that they can penetrate the sacks. in which the feet are Wrapped and engage the ice to prevent slipping.

In order to hold the plate in position upon the shoe there hasbeen provided aclampingelement upon one side of the plate which isadjustably held in place and may be known as the gaging clamp and a second clamping element which is positioned opposite the first clamping element and may be known as the securing clamp. The gaging clamp may also be referred to as the relatively stationary clamp and the'secun ing clamp as the relatively movable clamp sincethe gaglng clamp does not have any movement when in engagement with the shoes and the securing clamp is moved and drawn into tight gripping engagement with the shoe.

The gaging clamp 6 is provided with a shank 7 which extends radially and transversely of the plate 1 and is corrugated to provide teeth for engaging the cotiperating teeth 8 stamped into the plate. A tongue 9 extends from the plate and is bent back at the slot 9 to form a bracket 9 which extends across the portion of the plate having the teeth 8 and is held in place by certain of the spurs 5, the bracket being provided with teeth and bent at a point intermediate its outer and inner ends as shown clearly in Fig. 4 to permit easy insertion of the shank 7. It will thus be seen that the shank may be passed between the plate 1 and the bracket and will be securely but releasably held in the adjusted position by its teeth engaging the teeth 8 ofthe plate. This jaw or clamp is formedas shown in Fig. 4Ifor obtaining a firm grip upon the sole of the shoe and in addition carries a pointed screw 10 for biting into the edge face of the shoe sole.

The securing clamp or relatively movable clamp is provided with a lever 11 which has one end portion bent to extend up the edge face of the shoe sole as shown in Fig. 3 and terminates in a head or arm 12 by means of which the lever may be easily swung to the locking position. This lever is pivotally connected with the plate at a point opposite the gaging or relatively stationary clamp by means of a rivet 13 which forms a pivot pin and this lever is angular in shape as shown in Fig. 2. The jaw 14 is provided with a shank 15 which is loosely or pivotally connected with the lever 11 at the junction of its angularly disposed end portion by means of a rivet 16 which constitutes a pivot pin and this jaw '14 is shaped to obtain a firm grip upon the edge portion of the shoe sole and is provided with a gripping pin or screw 17 for biting into the edge face of the shoe sole. In order to permit the lever to be swung from the position shown in Fig. 2 to that shown in Fig. 1 without being bentout of shape the shank 15 has been provided with a pocket 18 to receive the head of the rivet 13 and the plate hasbeen provided with a pocket 19 to receive the head of the rivet 16. It will thus be seen that the lever may be swung to the clamping position of Fig. 1 and when in this position, the heads of the rivets 13 and 16 will be seated in the pockets 18 and 19 thus preventing the lever and shanks of the jaw 14 from being bent out of shape and further providing a frictional binding action which will serve as means for preventing the lever from accidentally swinging to the released position. As means for limiting the swinging movement of the lever in its movement from the position shown in Fig. 2 to that of Fig. 1, a tongue 20 has been struck from the plate and bent to engage the lever to stop its swinging ,movement. As means for locking the lever against accidental movement to a releasing position, a second tongue 21 has been struck from this plate and bent outwardly. The tongue 21 will have sufiicient resiliency to permit the lever 11 the be forced over it to the locking or releasing position, but it will have a sufiicient engagement with the side of the lever when in the position shown in Fig. 1 to prevent the lever from accidentally swinging to the releasing position. 1

When. this device is in use, the plate will be provided with spurs of a suitable size and the relatively stationary clamp 6 will be moved so that it will extend outwardly the proper distance after which the spurs which pass through the side portions of the bracket 9 will be tightened. The plate will then be placed against the sole of the shoe as shown in Fig. 2 with the jaw of the clamp 6 engaging one side of the sole and the jaw of the. clamp 14 extending to engage the second side edge portion of the sole. The lever will then be forced inwardly from the position shown in Fig. 1 to that shown in Fig. 2 and the movable clamp 14 will be drawn into tight engagement with the shoe. The shoe will thus be firmly gripped between the jaws of the relatively stationary clamp 6 and the relatively movable clamp 14. The heads of the rivets 18 and 16 will fit into the pockets 18 and 19 and the lever will be engaged by the tongue 21 and by the tongue 20 and thus held against movement which might accidentally release the creeper. When it is desired to remove this creeper, it is simply necessary to swing the lever 11 outwardly and the creeper will be released and canbe removed from the shoe. It will thus be seen that with this construction the improved creeper may be easily and quickly put in place or removed and will be very securely held in place.

If this device is used in connection with rubber overshoes, the clamps shown in Fig. 4 will not be long enough to properly engage the sole portion of the overshoe without danger of tearingthe sole loose and therefore a clamping j awor plate such as shown in Figs. 7 and 8 will be provided for each jaw and secured by a set screw. This auxiliary jaw 22 is in the form of a. longitudinally curved plate which fits against the inner face of the main jaw and is provided with a pocket 23 to receive the free end of the main jaw, a threaded opening 24 being provided to receive the securing screw 25. The auxiliary jaw will thus be securely but releasably held in place.

What is claimed is r 1. An ice creeper comprising a plate having a tongue extending therefrom, the plate and tongue being provided with transversely extending teeth and the tongue having a cutout at a point intermediate its length and being bent back at the cutout to provide a clamping bracket, a jaw having a shank extending between the plate and bracket through the cutout and having teeth engaged by the teeth of the plate and bracket to releasably hold the jaw in a set position, and a movable clamping element connected with the opposite side portion of the plate.

2. An ice creeper comp-rising a plate hav ing' a tongue extending therefrom, the tongue being provided with a cutout and bent back upon the plate at the. cutout to provide a clamping bracket, a jaw having a shank extending between the plate and bracket through the cutout and releasably held in a set position, and a movable clamping element upon the opposite side of the plate from the bracket.

3. A creeper comprising a plate, a jaw connected with the plate to one side thereof, a lever pivotally connected with the plate upon the opposite side thereof, a jaw connected with the lever, auxiliary gripping leasably holding the plates in engagement with said jaws. V

4. A creeper comprising a sole engaging element, jaws connected with the sole engaging element, auxiliary gripping plates for engaging a sole of greater thickness than the sole engaged by said jaws fitting against the jaws and extending above the upper ends thereof and held against movement transversely of the jaws, and means releasably holding the auxiliary gripping plates in engagement with said jaws. r

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN HAERMS BECKER.

WVitnesses: I

RICHARD F. DUNN, J. DELMAR DUNN. 

